Siemens Windpower has been awarded £5 million of Government funding in the first round of grants for developing next-generation offshore wind technology since the Budget last month.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne will announce the funding today as part of a
package of grants totaling £10 million in which seven UK companies will also benefit.
Siemens will use the grant, which was applied for under a previous round of funding, to develop a next-generation six megawatt offshore turbine with an integrated foundation designed in the UK.
The seven other grants aim to increase the UK supply chain for offshore wind, DECC said. They will support a range of
technologies including subsea cables, offshore wind support vessels, generators and blade assembly.
The funding was awarded through a capital
grants competition launched by the Government earlier this year, offering grants of between £250,000 and £2 million to businesses developing next generation technologies that are able to cut the cost of offshore wind deployment between now and 2020.
Commenting on the grants, Secretary of State Chris Huhne said: "These investments can help our own businesses reap the benefits of
renewable energy and help lower costs to consumers.
"That’s why it’s important that we support UK supply chain companies even in these tough economic times with grants to help them develop technologies to fit the emerging market."
The Siemens award was from a previous round of the scheme aimed at larger companies and offering larger grants. Other companies that benefited from the scheme included Clipper Windpower, which was awarded £4.4 million to develop a prototype blade for the largest wind turbine in the world.
Since then, both Clipper Windpower and Siemens have announced plans to build offshore wind manufacturing bases in the UK.
JDR Cable Systems gets £2mFrom today’s new round of money, Hartlepool’s JDR Cable Systems Ltd received £2 million, the largest grant. The company said it would contribute to an overall investment of £11 million "which will provide the necessary equipment to extend JDR's manufacture of subsea cables from medium voltage to high voltage". JDR will be the only UK manufacturer of the subsea cables.
Huhne will officially unveil the grants in a speech at the launch of the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Perspective report.
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